Benefactors

Chapter 10: Athena

August 3, 2025; 0900 HRS

Sleeping Chambers

          "Beep! Beep! Beep!" Sounded the obnoxious ring of the alarm clock I had set the night before. I forgot I had set it because I thought was going to bed around one in the morning. Clearly, that didn't happen. 

          Early this morning was the best and the worst time I could ever have. After we got back inside, Athena took us aside and told us what happened. Chief was a mutant. Horkos' weapon was the reason and it was controlling him to Horkos' will. Why Horkos wanted to do that, we know not. 

          Although unwillingly, I slid myself out of the bed. Odd thing was, the mattress was a standard issue for a prison. For the first time, I noticed how much this place looked like a prison. The concrete walls, no windows and the wooden doors had bad workmanship as if poorly covering up what once could've been a barred cell door. The bathroom, however, looked like the only thing that was properly modernized, it's walls plastered and caulked with a skilled hand. The sink, cabinets, tub, all looked like they were brand new. They probably were. This place was odd and without Chief being here, I was finally noticing the strange things about it. 

          Shrugging all aside, I went to the dresser that stood in the corner to the left of the door. When I reached out to pull the drawer open, I looked at my hands. They still kind of... vibrated. I pressed a hand against my cheek. It was warm, normally they were cold. At least now I never have to worry about Raynaud's Syndrome. Questions started to surface in my mind. What if I overload or something? I mean, devices that get too warm normally overload. I'm the first human with this kind of power. Am I just a guinea pig for them? Eh, of course I am. I groaned at the thought and searched for a set of day clothes. 

          Digging through, I noticed near the bottom, my Inferno t-shirt. It showed the two sides of him. Back to back was himself as a lawyer and the other as his super-being. I pondered how it got in there, maybe by my bag I tended to carry around. It was in Syth's car when we stood up to Horkos. With that, I continued my small search and eventually got what I was looking for. With my t-shirt, I added a pair of sweatpants and the typical undergarments. 

          Alright, let's get ready for a day of being a super. Not a hero yet, that part's earned. I thought as I bee-lined towards the bathroom. A static sounded once I was halfway to it. I turned and saw the television mounted on the wall turn itself on and a gray scene showed. Putting the clothes on the bed, I stepped up to it to turn it off. "Athena Atchie-"

          "What the-!" I shouted out. "-requesting video chat with Syth Margia, Benjamin Rocket, Thomas Shayer, and Natasha Rocket." I took a second to remember that I was in the 21st century, heck I only lived in the 20th century for thirteen days yet sometimes I act like I did for thirteen years. "Video Chat Accepted." I said. The screen went black then, showed Athena standing in what I assumed was her room. I watched three other boxes pop up as the others accepted Athena's request. "Good morning, everybody." she said. 

          "What's up, guys?" I responded. Ben groaned, he was still in bed. "Hey." Syth yawned. "Hey guys." Thomas said. "What do you need Athena?"

          "Noah's assigned me to train you guys... You four up for some training? If you are, I want you all down at the Training Hall. I've sent the map of the facility to your phones, you'll be able to find it." We all nodded in either ecstatic or tired ways. "Cool, see you in a few." Athena said and clicked her screen off. "I'm gonna hop in the shower guys, see you down there." I said. They murmured their goodbyes and I turned off the television and camera. Turning around, I grabbed my clothes off the bed and opened the bathroom door.